MEXICO THROUGH TO FACE THE NETHERLANDSJudging their tactics to perfection, Mexico waited and waited until Croatia began to leave defensive gaps as they became more desperate - before hitting them with three sucker punches within ten second half minutes to put themselves through to the knockout stages at their opponent's expense. Unable to create much against a rigid Mexican defence, Croatia wilted and conceded on 72 minutes, when captain Rafael Marquez rose to head home a corner. The Europeans were still reeling from that when they were hit on the break and Guardado polished off a fine move - insult to injury added when Javier Hernandez then poked home from close range. Ivan Perisic scored a late consolation but then Ante Rebic saw red for a late reckless challenge after overrunning the ball to complete a miserable night for Niko Kovac's side. For Mexico a second round match with the Netherlands awaits - on the basis of tonight they'll fancy their chances.

90'

FULL-TIME! MEXICO GO THROUGH!That's it! Mexico will go through to the knockout stages for the seventh time since 1986!

90'

GREAT SAVE FROM OCHOAMexico have conceded once but they don't want to concede anymore. Perisic peels off his marker to meet a cross from the left on the volley, but Ochoa reacts brilliantly to parry the ball away - Manduzkic is offside as he reaches for the rebound.

89'

MOMENT OF MADNESSAn initially exciting burst from Ante Rebic in from the flank takes a grim twist as he knocks the ball too far ahead of him and compounds his error by going in with his studs on Pena. Reckless from the forward and he's given a straight red.

87'

GOOOAAALLL!!!Croatia with a consolation as Perisic plays it into Rakitic in the area, before taking the return ball and slotting home from a tight angle. Classy finish, but all too late.

85'

BRAZIL MAKE IT SAFEOr not. Brazil have just scored a fourth against Cameroon. In Recife, the new boy Fabian fires a low drive at goal but it's saved by Pletikosa.

84'

COULD MEXICO QUALIFY IN FIRST?That goal has made things really quite interesting as far as second-round clashes go. Mexico are level on points and now goal difference with Brazil - another goal for them and they could leave the hosts facing the Netherlands in the second round. Fabian has come on for Guardado.

81'

GOOOAAALLL!!!A deflated Croatia are being put to the sword now. It's another corner they concede from, with Herrera putting the ball in to the near post; it's flicked on by Layun and Javier Hernandez is at the backpost unmarked to head home to end his 11-game goal drought.

78'

HACKED OFF THE LINE!Croatia come incredibly close to pulling one back! A briliant run by the substitute Ante Rebic takes him into the box and he sidefoots it past Ochoa, only to see a flash of green as Francisco Moreno hacks it off the line.

75'

GOOOAAALLL!!!That's surely it! Croatia are caught in possession in attack and Mexico sweep up the other end on the right, Vazquez draws two men and plays Peralta through down the right, who crosses to Guardado in the area - the midfielder making no mistake. Dejection for Croatia but Mexico deserve this.

74'

CROATIA SLIPPING OUT?Croatia haven't looked like creating enough tonight to suggest they're going to be able to get two goals back, but a cross from Srna is cleared off the line by Mexico as the Europeans look desperately to get back in the match. Nikica Jelavic has come on for them, replacing Pranjic.

71'

GOOOAAALLL!!!Mexico have been on top for the last ten minutes and finally they take the lead! The goal comes from captain Rafael Marquez as he rises to meet Herrera's corner from the left, to power a header beyond Pletikosa into the bottom right-hand corner of the goal. Surely that's it for Croatia.

69'

CROATIA CHANGEAnte Rebic has come on for Olic.

66'

OFF THE LINE AGAIN!Aguilar almost scores for Mexico! It's another shot that's cleared off the line. Croatia were hoping to up the tempo in this half but they're really under the cosh at the moment.

65'

MEXICO PENALTY SHOUT!Javier Hernandez is furious as Guardado's volley towards goal is blocked, seemingly with his arm by Srna in the area. The referee doesn't give a penalty but he quite probably should have. Croatia then live dangerously as Corluka has to clear the ball off the line from Herrera's corner that dips dangerously under the crossbar. Vazquez meanwhile has been booked. It's all going on here.

62'

JAVIER HERNANDEZ ONMexico haven't shut up shot just yet, in fact as they win a corner Javier Hernandez looks like he's preparing to come on. Corluka deals with the corner from the left, with Moreno's follow up tamely going out for a goal kick. Here comes Hernandez - he's on for Dos Santos.

58'

CROATIA SUBSTITUTIONA change is made by Croatia as 20-year-old Inter Milan midfielder Mateo Kovacevic comes on for full-back Vrsaljko - a move that suggests that Croatia are now going just three at the back.

57'

HEARTS IN CROATIAN MOUTHSMexico are enjoying an attacking spell down the right and Srna has to time a challenge perfectly to take the ball off Dos Santos as the former Tottenham man's played through in the area. Mexico have a corner on the left but Peralta heads Guardado's ball in over the bar.

54'

MORE PACE BUT NO MORE CHANCESThere's been a real increase in pace by Croatia since half-time, but it's not translated into any clear cut chances yet. Pranjic makes a mess of a lofted through ball to Mandzukic, the forward looking frustrated having taken up a decent position between the two central defenders.

53'

IN BRASILIA...Brazil are now 3-1 up against Cameroon.

52'

RODRIGUEZ ERRORFrancisco Rodriguez makes a right hash of clearing a low Olic cross the left, which almost allows Mandzukic to creep in, but Mexico recover to eventually clear the ball from their area. The momentum has swung here.

49'

CROATIA WASTE CORNERIt's a wasted corner from Croatia and Mexico clear, but the European side are looking a lot brighter already. Modric is picking up the ball deeper now, giving him more space to drive momentum forwards. It's Pranjic who's gone further forward in place of the Real Madrid midfielder.

48'

MODRIC OUT ON THE LEFTCroatia may have made a tactical change if not a personnel one, with Luka Modric now playing out more on the left. He makes an impact instantly as he surges down the flank and cuts inside before being outnumbered - at the expense of a corner though.

46'

WE'RE UNDER WAY!Here we go for the second period then. Mexico now playing from left to right - no changes on either side.

45'

MEXICO GOING THROUGH AS IT STANDSIt's goalless here at half-time which means that Mexico will be going through alongside Brazil as things stand. Croatia have perhaps been on top, but they've struggled to penetrate a persistent Mexico defence, and have been reduced to a couple of long-range efforts. Mexico have certainly looked the more dangerous going forward too; Herrera hit the bar with a fierce 25-yard drive, while Peralta slipped when one-on-one with the goalkeeper at a tight angle. Expect to see Mexico drop deeper in the second period and continue to contain the ineffectual Luka Modric - how else can Croatia break this deadlock if not through him?

45'

GUADARDO AND SRNA SQUARE UPThere have been a couple of flash points in this first-half and there's another between Guardado and Srna, with the Mexican midfielder giving away a foul for his challenge but then confronting the 115-cap veteran for what he believes to be a dive. Rakitic wins a corner from the free-kick, but they can't make anything from the follow-up set-piece and the referee blows for half-time.

42'

LAYUN NEAR MISSLayun finds himself in space on the left as the ball breaks to him on the edge of the Croatian penalty area, but his shot's deflected out for a corner. There's a bit of a goal mouth scramble from Herrera's ball in but the referee calls for a free-kick for tugging by Moreno.

40'

MARQUEZ BOOKEDA yellow card for Marquez and the veteran defender can't have any complaints as he cynically stops the Croatian break by felling Perisic. The set-piece is 25 yards from goal and central, but Darijo Srna fires over the bar. In other news, Brazil are back in front against Cameroon.

38'

SPATE OF CORNERSSurprise, surprise - Mexico can't make much of their corner. However as Croatia try to break they give the ball away cheaply. Guadardo jinks down the left and wins another corner. Herrera aims for the near post and soon finds himself taking another corner. His second ball in is terrible and Croatia break.

35'

MEXICO WIDE BOMBARDMENTA shirt pull by Modric on Dos Santos gives Mexico a free-kick on the right 35 yards out. It's a flat ball in by Guadardo though and is cleared on the edge of the area. Back come Mexico but again the ball in is poor by Herrera. Persistence pays off though and they finally win a corner.

31'

VAZQUEZ CHANCEVazquez has a crack at the other end for for Mexico as he gets on the end of Aguilar's cross, but he can't hit the target. Croatia are probably on top but it's Mexico who have looked more dangerous.

29'

BETTER FROM CROATIAInteresting news from Brasilia as Cameroon improbably draw level with Brazil! That doesn't change what Croatia need to do here and Perisic again fires in a shot from outside the area, that again is not far over the bar; he might've expected to do better from Mandzukic's canny knock-down though.

28'

PERISIC WITH LONG RANGE TEASERPerisic gives Corona a little teaser as the ball breaks to him outside the Mexico area, but his piercing drive is over the bar. Not by much though.

26'

CROATIA VULNERABLE TO MEXICO COUNTERCroatia fail to break Mexico down and are forced onto the back foot as they break through Dos Santos. The ball's spread right but then there's a slip and the ball runs out of play.

23'

OLIC ATTEMPTOlic receives Modric's cross low into the box, but his shot cannons off a Mexican defender and is comfortably picked up by Corona.

22'

MEXICO GOING THROUGH GEARSMexico have woken up after that cautious ten minutes and are fighting hard now in defence and attack. Luka Modric has had little change out of the green shirts playing in the number ten role - and he's having to drop back every time Mexico break.

19'

PERALTA GOES CLOSE!In news from Brasilia, Brazil have taken the lead against Cameroon. Meanwhile in Recife, Croatia are panicking as a lovely break and through ball catches them off guard, allowing Peralta to race through, only to slip and mis-hit the ball wide of the post as Pletikosa dashes out to meet him. Let-off.

16'

HERRERA HITS WOODWORK!Wow that's close from Herrera! From 25 yards out, the midfielder thunders a shot beyond Pletikosa in the Croatia goal, only to see it cannon off the crossbar.

14'

MEXICO SCRAMBLINGLuka Modric's corner in from the left is partially dealt with, but the ball comes back in from the right and Olic is at the far post to head it dangerously back across goal. Thankfully for Mexico, Aguilar is there to head clear.

13'

RARE SPACE FOR CROATIAMexico have kept it tight so far but there's suddenly space for Croatia to play into here as they come forward. The ball's worked across to the right as they get three-on-three up front, but Olic fails to read Perisic's low ball into the box - they do win a corner though...

10'

GAME YET TO SETTLELuka Modric is down on the ground which is worrying for Croatia. It's just a clash of heads however as he went for a high ball, and he's soon back on his feet. The game has yet to settle into a real rhythm here, although there's no denying that Croatia have spent the most time in their opponent's half.

9'

RAKITIC BOOKEDWe don't have to wait long for the first booking of the match. It goes to Rakitic as he flies in late with his studs showing on Jose Vazquez - the Croatian number seven can have no complaints.

7'

CROATIA PRESSUREAnother corner from Croatia down this same left-hand side, following a cross in by Darijo Srna. Pranjic plays it short to Rakitic, who hits a first-time cross in that cannons off Perisic in the box to go over the bar.

6'

EARLY CROATIA CORNERCroatia win an early corner on the left and it's whipped in by Danijel Pranjic. However it's cleared by Mexico at the back post.

3'

MEXICO START CAUTIOUSLYMexico's manager Miguel Herrera had insisted that his side would attack tonight, despite only needing a draw to go through. However as Croatia come forward you can already see the banks of green shirts dopping deep - don't expect too much in the way of attacking play from them.

1'

WE'RE UNDER WAY!Here we go then, for a game that's effectively a knock-out tie. Croatia are wearing red shirts with white shorts and are playing from left to right. Mexico are wearing green shirts and black shorts and begin the match in possession of the ball.

0'

NEARLY KICK-OFFThe national anthems are done and the players are preparing for kick-off. There's still no Javier Hernandez in the Mexico starting line-up, but the Manchester United man's international form has mirrored that at club level. No goals in 11 caps for Hernandez have meant that Oribe Peralta has remained the preferred option.

EARLY TEAM NEWSAside from the possibility of Mateo Kovacic coming into the team in midfield, Croatia are likely to be unchanged from their previous match. Mexico boss Miguel Herrera is also likely to go with the same line-up for the third game in a row - Hector Moreno, Jose Vazquez and Paul Aguilar are one booking from a ban.

0'

JUSTICE FOR CROATIA?If Croatia do not go through tonight they'll no doubt bitterly recall the soft penalty they conceded against Brazil in the opening game of this competition – Neymar's resultant goal nudging the hosts ahead in an eventual 3-1 win, that many felt was harsh on the European side. Niko Kovac's side played well in that match and they followed that performance up with an impressive 4-0 destruction of Cameroon. Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic has scored 12 goals in his last 28 caps and he'll be the main hope of breaching Mexico's strict defence tonight, alongside Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric - who has looked sublime so far this tournament.

0'

ATTACK VERSUS DEFENCE?Mexico are one of only two sides not to have conceded in this year's World Cup – the other being Nigeria – and though they've lacked much in the way of firepower up the other end, given they only need to draw here, you can bet that a defence marshalled by the 122-cap veteran Rafael Marquez will be ready to park that bus to repel the Croatian attack. Mexico looked ropey indeed when beating a poor Cameroon side 1-0 in their opening match of the finals, but they impressed many as they held Brazil to a goalless draw last time out. The Mexicans haven't failed to qualify for the knockouts in any World Cup they've contested dating back to 1986, while they've beaten Croatia in their one and only finals game against each – taking a 1-0 win in the 2002 group stages.

0'

WELCOME TO RECIFEAlthough the rest of Brazil will of course only have their eyes on the hosts, it is here in Recife where the truly key match of Group A will be taking place – with Croatia and Mexico going head-to-head in what will almost certainly decide who will join the Brazilians in the second round. Phil Scolari's men are surely unlikely to slip up against a poor looking Cameroon side, which means that the objectives differ slightly for Croatia and Mexico - Mexico simply have to avoid defeat while Croatia have to win if they want to go through to the knockout stages.